The number of holidays doesn't show how much the people of a country work. Besides the number doesn't vary so much. Are you trying to say that countries with more hollidays have financial problems? Thats too simple-minded. What about Japan and Austria? Both have many holidays like Spain or Brazil.

They forgot the RTT in France !
Since you must ask: jours de Reprise du Temps de Travail, ie half day holidays handed out to employees of companies above a microscopic threshold in compensation for their working 39 hours per week instead of the legally mandated 35.

These nearly double the holidays that people are entitled to by law there.

There is more to life than work and a good work/life balance is essential to everyone's wellbeing.

No one lies on their deathbed and says "Wow, I wish I worked more!" No, it is more likely they wished they relaxed more, travelled more, spent more time with their family and enriched their life with more than money.

But each to their own I suppose.

I am lucky enough to live in a country (Australia) that mandates:
20 days annual leave per year (paid to you if unused when you leave a company)
10 days sick leave per year
7 national public holidays
3 state public holidays (including one for the Melbourne Cup on the 1st Tuesday in November which combined with using one day of annual leave turns into a four day weekend
1 company public holiday - my company gives me a public holiday on December 24th.

So over this holiday period, I will use 3 days annual leave and have 11 days off with no drop in salary.

Importanly, the graph shows statutory entitlements. In Spain this is 22 days and most workers get 22 days. In the UK the minium is 20 days, but many get 25 or 30 days. Before using such numbers to draw inferences about efficiency or industriousness, they need to reflect how many days are taken in practice.

There are 36 legal holidays in Austria. To this should be added the 104 days on the weekends so they are up to 140 days out of 365 days in the year. Having a cold, a bout of flu or great snow conditions would possibly add five more days so the Austrians work 60% of the year and take 40% of the working year to do something else. If they are female they probably get 6 months at full pay from their company to nurture a new child. as an Austrian, I would spend as many years as possible producing children. But that another story! For non-Europeans, the current scene in Europe is a hard one to grasp. Even more remarkable is that people retire earlier than in other countries around the world. We all have to wonder why there is such a surplus of labour. The under 30s are upwards of 30% unempolyed. Some may never work at all. And many of the new jobs are temporary. But I am sure you know all this. In my mind, it is a very sad story. tipbermuda.com

Unemployment in Austria is at about 4% (under 25: about 8 I think) so there isn't a crazy surplus of labor. And yes, there are four months fully paid (a pregnant woman actually isn't allowed to work by law 2 months before and 2 months after giving birth) After that, a parent is entitled to several forms of government subsidies per month if they decide to stay home with the child (the mother can also not be fired from her job during quite a long period). It's obviously not full pay but quite a nice subsidy for up to three years (one subsidy is actually paid until the child is 25).
Women in Austria do NOT spend their years producing children though, the birth rate is a LOT lower than in the US (about 1.4 I think while the US have over 2)

the note at the top is misleading. the chart does not (a) show which countries work harder or (b) suggest a relationship between holiday entitlement and how troubled an economy is. the chart only shows entitlements to holidays in various random countries which in my opinion is pretty pointless information.

Well they have data for Canada this time. Surprised that so few days off are typical. Would have expected the US and Canada to be at rough parity.

Interesting the Japanese are up there. I recalled from the early 90s how more days off were going to be encouraged to drive consumption. Think that was about the same time schools and companies pulled back on having Saturdays be workdays or half days (believe my father inlaw's company has every other saturday still..).

Would be interested in seeing S. Korea on the chart since it is a major exporting power, and is alleged to have one of the longest workweeks.

For the US, I take it the note on no mandatory holiday entitlement can be constued to mean that the 15 days plus whatever can be negotiated results from prevailing employment standards and what the market permits....

That's correct :) As an Austrian (even though I live and work abroad), it's a completely foreign idea to me that employers are NOT required to give days off (we also have paid sick leave). I have friends in the US who have had 2 days off in 2 years or something - how do people subsist in their work environment like that? There are many circumstances that might require you to take a day off and a lot of them are not for holidays.. It's inconceivable that you'd lose pay each time. That's horrible!
And yes, the law specifies that there is a minimum number of paid days (in our case 25) that an employee has to be granted off. Often, companies allow to carry a certain amount of leave over to the next year if people don't take it all (or they pay for the days off). Sometimes you lose them if you haven't taken them in time, but you'd have the right to do so.

For Italy the number of days statutory plus public holiday is too simplistic a way to look at things. Staff also receive an allocation of 'permessi' hours which equates to another 2.5 weeks holiday a year on top of 20 days holiday and 11 public holidays. Add the real total up and Italy would be top of the list, which is why the country closes for August.

The information about Germany is wrong. By federal law, workers have at least 24 holidays per year. In branches with a collective agreement like the public service for example, it is even more, usually around 30 days per year, depending on your age and status. The number of public holidays you get depends on where you live. Berlin has nine, while the catholic Bavarians enjoy thirteen.

I'm amazed that nobody has called out the Economist's ludicrous (perhaps intentionally provocative) editorialising above the chart. North Americans having fewer statutory holiday days does not mean they are more "industrious." Asians having fewer holidays than Europeans does not mean they "work harder." The logic is incorrect and its attitude is bizarrely puritanical.

Agreed. Particularly baffling as it's pointed out above that TE offers its New York staff a generous holiday entitlement by American standards. You'd think they're trying to enforce 'idleness'. Or perhaps it's just that a chance to refresh seems to be good for the body and mind, and - surprise, surprise - overall productivity. Look at those slothful Germans, for example.

Interestingly, someone pointed out a few months back that the paucity of vacation time is a justification for some Americans to try to retire as early as possible - and that, by extension, more statutory holiday entitlement might compensate for having to work longer as a result of pensions reform.

Come on, the "statutory minimum" needs some good explanation, why it is obmitted? Even in America that is not enforced, not even sure it is the norm (maybe only applicable to companies of certain size), so is public holidays.

This is ludicrous: there is no mandatory requirement in the US.
As to a standard, that is likely closer to 10 days not 15.The Economist offices in New York offers 15 days: this is luxurious by US standards.
Furthermore, government holidays and Public holidays are not the same in the US: many private employers do not offer their employees the majority of public holidays.

Somehow I have a sense of pride that Canada appears to have among the fewest statutory holidays of the sample, but I do not delude myself that Canada's productivity levels are worthy of the picture this portrays. Anyway, happy holidays all...

I would be very surprised if the average vacation entitlement for American workers was as high as 15 days. 10-12 seems vastly more likely, until you get into middle/senior management--which represents a pretty small portion of the workforce, when you get down to it.

The obvious exception is in the public and nonprofit sectors, but the former varies drastically due to odd work schedules (teachers, firefighters, and to a lesser extent police being the obvious examples) and the latter is a vanishingly small part of the economy outside of a few metro areas.